Sequential Voting Instructions

Thank you for agreeing to participate in this experiment. This is an experiment in group decision making. During the experiment we require your complete, undistracted attention and ask that you follow instructions carefully. Please turn o¤ your cell phones. Do not open other applications on your computer, chat with other students, or engage in other distracting activities, such as reading books, doing homework, etc. You will be paid for your participation in cash, at the end of the experiment. Di¤erent participants may earn di¤erent amounts. What you earn depends partly on your decisions, partly on the decisions of others, and partly on chance. The entire experiment will take place through computer terminals, except for the rolling of a die by an individual who will act as a

‘monitor’ for the experiment. It is important that you not talk or in any way try to communicate with other participants during the experiments.

The experiment you are participating in is a group decision making experiment, where you will be making decisions in small committees. We will start with a brief instruction period. During the instruction period, you will be given a complete description of the experiment and will be shown how to use the computers. If you have any questions during the instruction period, please raise your hand and your question will be answered out loud so everyone can hear. If you have any questions after the experiment has begun, raise your hand, and an experimenter will come and assist you. After the Instructions, there will be a practice session. You will not be paid for the matches in the practice session. The practice session will be followed by the paid session. At the end of the paid session, you will be paid the sum of what you have earned, plus a show-up fee of

$10.00. Everyone will be paid in private and you are under no obligation to tell others how much you earned. Your earnings during the experiment are denominated in FRANCS.

Your DOLLAR earnings are determined by multiplying your earnings in FRANCS by a conversion rate. For this experiment the conversion rate is 0.01, meaning that 100 FRANCS equal 1 DOLLAR. The computer keeps a record of the payments, but you are also asked to keep track of your earnings on a record sheet that we will provide in a few minutes.

This experiment will consist of two parts. For the entire experiment, there will be a monitor, who will be randomly chosen from one of the student participants. The monitor

will assist in running the experiment by rolling a die and generating random numbers for use in the experiment and will be paid a …xed amount ($20.00) for the experiment.

We will now roll a multi-sided die to pick the monitor. The student at the desk number that shows up will be the monitor. [20-SIDED DIE IS ROLLED] The monitor is the participant who is seated in front of computer #XX. Please go to Comp no. 19. Please continue to pay attention to the Instructions as they are also relevant to you. If you have any questions, please ask. If you should have questions once the experiment has started, please ask the person sitting next to you at Comp. 19. We will now begin a brief instruction period followed by a Practice session. You will not be paid for the practice session.

This experiment comprises 2 parts. The …rst part of the experiment will take place over a sequence of 20 matches. We begin the …rst match by dividing you into ? committees of three members each. Each of you is assigned to exactly one of these committees. You are not told the identity of the other members of your committee.

Your committee can make one of two decisions. The decision is simply to make a choice between one of two “jars”, Jar 1 or Jar 2. At the beginning of the match, the monitor secretly rolls a 6-sided die to determine which of the two jars is the correct jar for your committee, and enters this information into the master computer. If your committee chooses the correct jar, everyone in your committee receives a high payo¤ equal to 50 francs. If your committee chooses the incorrect jar, everyone in the committee receives a low payo¤ equal to 10 francs. If the die rolled by the monitor comes up 1, 2 or 3, then Jar 1 would be the correct decision for the committee to make; if the die comes up 4, 5 or 6, Jar 2 would be the correct decision; but you are not told which jar is the correct decision until after all the members in your committee have voted. Before voting, each of you will receive a piece of information about which is the correct jar.

The committee decides in a sequential procedure. First, the computer randomly as-signs an order in which the members of your committee either vote or abstain. Each member of your committee either votes or abstains when prompted by the computer.

He/she can vote for one of the two jars or, to Abstain i.e., not vote for either decision.

Voting is costly. Any member who decides to vote, must pay a cost of 8 francs, regardless of the outcome. This cost is automatically subtracted from earnings.

Your committee’s decision is made by plurality rule. Whichever jar receives more votes from your committee’s members is your committee’s decision. Ties (0-0 or 1-1) are broken randomly. After everyone in your committee has made their decisions to either vote or abstain, the group decision and the correct jar is revealed to you. If your committee’s group decision is equal to the Correct jar, each member of your committee earns 50 francs.

If your committee’s group decision is incorrect, each member of your committee earns 10

francs. Of course, voters must also pay their voting cost. So a voter’s net payo¤ is 50-8=42 for a corrrect decision; a voter’s net payo¤ for an incorrect decision is 10-8=2 The table in front of the room fully describes all the possible payo¤s. [Experimenter go over table.] The other committees in the room face similar tasks, but the correct decision may be di¤erent for di¤erent committees. The monitor rolls the die separately for each committee. Remember that committees are completely independent, and they act independently.

After the …rst match is completed, we proceed to the second match. In the second match, you are all reassigned randomly and anonymously into new 3-person committees, and the process repeats itself for the new committees. The monitor rolls the die again for each committee to determine that committee’s correct decision, each committee member again receives a new piece of information and the sequential procedure is carried out as in the …rst match, but possibly in a di¤erent order. This will continue for a total of 20 matches. After 20 matches, we will begin Part 2 of the experiment. We will read you the instructions for Part 2 after we complete Part 1. From now on the experiment will take place through computer terminals only, except for the roll of the die performed by the monitor. I will now hand out Record Sheets on which you will be asked to record certain information as the experiment proceeds.

We will now begin the Practice session and go through two practice matches. During the practice matches, please do not hit any keys until you are asked to, and when have to enter information, please do exactly as asked. At the end of the second practice match there will be a short comprehension quiz. If you have any questions during the quiz, please raise your hand. You must answer all the questions in the quiz before the experiment can begin. Again, you are not paid for these 2 practice matches.

[AUTHENTICATE CLIENTS]

Please double click on the tree icon on your desktop that says j-s. When the computer prompts you for your name, type your First and Last name. Then click SUBMIT and wait for further instructions.

[START GAME]

[SCREEN 2 ]

You now see the …rst screen of the experiment on your computer. It should look similar to this screen. Please note that the screen exhibited up front is not exactly identical to any of the screens exhibited on your computers at this time. It only serves as an illustration and is not meant to be suggestive. At the top left of the screen, you see your subject ID.

Please record that on your record sheet now. You have been assigned by the computer to a group of 3 subjects. This committee assignment will change after each match. Within your committee, the computer has randomly assigned an order in which the members of

the committee vote. You are told your position in the order, i.e. whether you vote or abstain either …rst, second or third, in your committee. Your position in the decision making order is displayed on your screen here (POINT).

The random order of moves is determined by the computer independently for each committee and in each match. Note this is what the screen looks like for the person who is …rst in the decision making order.

(POINT to “Order of Moves”, with laser.)

Suppose you are the person who is either second or third in the order. Then the screen would look like this:

[SCREEN 3 ]

On the upper right of your screen are pictures of the two jars, each containing exactly 8 balls. Jar 1 is on the left and contains 6 Red balls and 2 Blue balls. Jar 2 is on the right and contains 2 Red balls, and 6 Blue balls. The monitor will now roll a die, to assign one of the two jars to each committee and will enter this information into the computer. The assigned Jar for a committee represents that committee’s correct decision. The die is rolled separately for each committee. You will not be told which Jar was assigned to your committee until everyone in your committee has chosen to vote or Abstain. However, before you choose to vote or abstain, each of you is allowed to see a small piece of information about which jar was assigned to your group. Please wait... we will explain this shortly.

You should also note that the window in the mid-left of the screen exhibits how your payo¤s are determined. [POINT TO MID-LEFT PAYOFF TABLE]. It shows how the actual jar and your committees’ choice combine to determine your payo¤. If your committee’s decision matches the committee’s actual Jar, you earn 50 francs for the match and you earn 10 if the group decision does not match the actual Jar. In addition to this, 8 francs are subtracted from your payo¤ if you vote during that match.

[SHOW SCREEN 4 ]

Once the monitor has assigned the jar for your committee, you see this screen. You now see only your committee’s jar on your screen, but the colors of the balls are hidden.

(Emphasize and repeat later)Please note that the balls have been randomly shu- ed on each of your screens by the computer so there is no way to guess which color ball is in which location and you cannot tell which Jar was assigned to your committee. The random shu- ing is di¤erent for each of member.

You will now be allowed to see the color of exactly one of the balls in your committee’s jar. To do so, now please use the mouse to move your cursor to whichever ball you want to look at and click once. We call this ball “your sample”. It is your piece of private information. The other members of your committee are also choosing balls in a similar

way, although the order of their balls is also randomly determined, so it will generally be di¤erent. Therefore, it is possible for di¤erent members of the same committee to click on di¤erent color balls even from the same jar. The colors of all the other balls remain hidden until the end of the match. Please record the color of your sample on your record sheet (R for red or B for blue). Please wait for further instructions.

[SCREEN 5 ] (Showing screen of …rst mover)

Now, I will explain the sequential procedure. Please pay close attention to the screen here and the instructions. You will make your individual decisions to vote or abstain in the order that is displayed on your screen. You will be prompted to vote when it is your turn. You will be shown how the previous members voted or abstained before you choose.

The person in your committee, who is …rst in the ‘order of moves’ moves …rst. This is what his/her screen looks like.

[SCREEN 6]

Next, the person who was second in the order of moves sees the following screen.

Note that the second person is shown the …rst person’s decision, here. (POINT). In this example, the …rst person voted for Jar 1 and the second person can see this here.

[SCREEN 7]

Finally, the third person sees a screen like this. The third person can see what both of the other two members of his committee did, in this panel here (POINT).

In this example, the …rst person voted for Jar 1 and the second person abstained. Now it is the third person’s turn to vote or abstain.

[SCREEN 8]

Once everyone has voted, the results for the committee are displayed on a screen like this. In this example, the …rst person voted for Jar 1, the second person abstained and the third person voted for Jar 2. So there was 1 votes for Jar 1 and 1 vote for Jar 2. The committee decision was therefore a tie. Because it was a tie, the computer randomly broke the tie. In this case, they broke the tie for Jar 1, which was the correct jar. Therefore the payo¤s were (show). Please remember that this is just an example to illustrate, and is not intended to be suggestive.

This …nal screen also displays other pieces of information. If you look at the top left corner, it indicates what the actual jar was, and your committee decision. The table with columns in the bottom of your screen is the History panel and summarizes important information. (AS YOU READ, POINT TO RELEVANT COLUMNS) COLUMN ONE indicates the match number, COLUMN TWO indicates your sample color, COLUMN THREE shows your vote, COLUMN four provides a summary of the votes: (Jar1-Jar2-Abstention), COLUMN FIVE shows your committee’s decision, COLUMN SIX shows the what the actual jar was, and COLUMN SEVEN shows your earnings (which are not listed

here because this was a practice session).

Now, please make sure you have recorded all the information for this practice match on your record sheet. (Please remember the following important things) The committee decision is made by plurality rule. Whichever jar receives more votes is the committee de-cision, with ties broken randomly. For example, if everyone on your committee abstained, it would be a 0-0 tie, and ¹₂ the time the computer would make the group decision Jar 1 and half the time Jar 2. Committee decisions are summarized in the text in the upper left panel of your screen (POINT), and are also summarized in the history screen at the bottom in column …ve (POINT). As the experiment proceeds the history screen will show the outcomes of all previous committees you were in.

Remember that you earn 50 francs for the match if your committee’s decision matches the committee’s actual Jar, and you earn 10 if the group decision does not match the actual Jar. Furthermore, you must pay of voting cost of 8 francs if you chose to vote, which is subtracted from your earnings. This information is also displayed on the screen (POINT to mid-left table). Also, please note that at the end of the match the colors of all the other balls in your jar are revealed to you. This marks the end of the match.

[SCREEN 9: Instructions Part 1]

For the next match you will be randomly re-matched into another committee with di¤erent subjects. A new Jar will be assigned to your committee by the monitor in the same way as before. That is, there is a 50/50 chance that your new committee’s Jar is Jar 1 or Jar 2. Just as before, you will get a sample from this Jar by clicking on a ball to reveal its color. Then we will have the voting stage and a group decision will be determined.

At the end of the next match, you will be asked to take a short comprehension quiz.

Everyone must answer all the questions correctly before we go to the paid matches. Also, during the quiz, you must answer all the questions on Page 1 of the quiz to proceed to Page 2 and so on. If you answer a question incorrectly, you will be asked to correct it.

Please raise your hand if you have any questions during the quiz, and we will come to your desk and answer your question in private.

[START MATCH 1]

Please proceed through the steps of match 2 at your own pace. . . . Practice match 2 is now over.

Are there any questions before we begin with the paid session? We will now begin with the 20 paid matches of Part 1. Please pull out your dividers for the paid session of the experiment. If there are any problems or questions from this point on, raise your hand and an experimenter will come and assist you.

[START MATCH 1 ] [ AFTER MATCH 21 STOP.]

[After MATCH 21] We have now reached the end of Part 1.

We will now begin Part 2 of the experiment. Part 2 is exactly the same as Part 1 except that the COST of VOTING is now 2 Francs. There will be 20 matches in Part 2.

Please go ahead and begin Part 2.

[ SCREEN 10: Instruction Part 2]

Part 2

[After MATCH 41] This marks the end of Part 2 and the experiment. Your Total Payo¤ is displayed on your screen. Please record this payo¤ on your record sheet. Your total payo¤ is your payo¤ from both parts plus the show-up fee of $10. We will pay each of you in private in the next room in the order of your arrival, beginning with the Monitor.

Please make sure you have …lled out the third page of the record sheet and sign it and turn it when you receive payment. You are under no obligation to reveal your earnings to the other players.

This ends the experiment and your participation for today. Thank you for your coop-eration.

IX References References

[1] Bartels, L., 1988. Presidential Primaries and the Dynamics of Public Choice. Prince-ton University Press, PrincePrince-ton, N.J.

[2] Battaglini, Marco. 2005. Sequential Voting with Abstention. Games and Economic Behavior, 51 2(May):445-463.

[3] Bikhchandani, S., Hirshleifer D. and Welch I., 1992. A Theory of Fads, Fashion, Custom, and Cultural Change as Informational Cascades. J. Pol. Econ. 100, 992-1026.

[4] Borgers, T. 2004. Costly Voting. American Economic Review. 94, 1, 57-66.

[5] Callander Steven, 2004. Bandwagon and Momentum in Sequential Voting. Mimeo.

MEDS, Northwestern University.

[6] Canes-Wrone, Brandice, Michael C. Herron, and Kenneth W. Shotts. 2001. Leader-ship and Pandering: A Theory of Executive Behavior. American Journal or Political Science. 40, 1300-1326.

[7] Cohen, Linda R. and Roger G. Noll. 1991. How to Vote, Whether to Vote: Decisions

[7] Cohen, Linda R. and Roger G. Noll. 1991. How to Vote, Whether to Vote: Decisions